Electoral history of Geoffrey Palmer

Sir Geoffrey Palmer in 2009.

This is a summary of the electoral history of Geoffrey Palmer, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1989–90), Leader of the Labour Party (1989–90), Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central (1979–90).

Parliamentary elections

1979 by-election

Christchurch Central by-election, 1979^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Geoffrey Palmer	6,149	64.20	+3.03
	Social Credit	Terry Heffernan	1,759	18.37	+9.02
	National	D P Duncan	1,634	17.06	-8.55
	Tory	S A Sadler	26	0.27
	Economic Euthenics	Michael Hansen	10	0.10
Majority			4,390	45.83	+10.27
Turnout			9,578
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.58

1981 election

General election, 1981: Christchurch Central^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Geoffrey Palmer	10,793	63.2	-1.0
	National	I G B Wilson	3,765	22.1
	Social Credit	P E Admore	2,426	14.2
	Communist	W E C Iversen	78	0.5
Majority			7,028	41.1	-4.7
Turnout			20,048	85.8

1984 election

General election, 1984: Christchurch Central^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Geoffrey Palmer	13,394	63.4	+0.2
	National	A A P Willy	4,886	23.1
	NZ Party	M Ludemann	2,072	9.8
	Social Credit	J E Pounsford	662	3.1
	Independent	S A Sadler	123	0.6
Majority			8,508	40.3	-0.8
Turnout			92.7	23,599	+6.9

1987 election

General election, 1987: Christchurch Central^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Geoffrey Palmer	11,836	65.2	+1.8
	National	G L B Burnett	5,031	27.7
	Democrats	J E Pounsford	557	3.2	+0.1
	Breakfast Party	J K Daniels	235	1.3
	Socialist Action	F J Brereton	196	1.1
	Wizard Party	D J Hanlon	119	0.6
	Values	S V Symons	85	0.5
	NZ Party	L M Yeoman	70	0.4
Majority			6,805	37.5	-2.8
Turnout			22,043	85.5	-7.2

Leadership elections

1983 Deputy-leadership election

	Name	Votes	Percentage
	Geoffrey Palmer	22	51.16%
	Mike Moore	21	48.84%

1989 Leadership election

	Name	Votes	Percentage
	Geoffrey Palmer	41	75.92%
	Mike Moore	13	24.08%

Notes

1. Wilson 1985, p. 182.
2. Norton 1988, pp. 206.

References

• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Bassett, Michael (2008). Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet. Auckland: Hodder Moa. ISBN 978-1-86971-094-1.